Magnetic disk drives are becoming increasingly smaller in order to meet the portability requirements of lap-top and notebook computers. Space is at a premium in all dimensions, and particularly in the height dimension.
One approach to overcoming problems associated with making a small actuator for small form factor magnetic disk drives is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,618 of Dunfield and Heine, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. This prior patent is entitled "Space Optimization Voice Coil Motor For Disc Drives", and relates to shaping the poles and magnets of the actuator in a manner such that a large and constant magnetic flux field strength is provided over a given area. Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,260,618 discloses and claims a number of new and useful embodiments of voice coil motors, the present application provides some further improvements thereover.